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Politics : Actual left/right wing discussion -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ish who wrote (2158)	10/2/2006 8:35:42 AM
From: one_less	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10087

"Now for the taking more energy* than it provides crap, corn is grown for high gluten feed and oil. That;s going to be grown anyway. What's used to make ethanol was the waste. "* Thanks for the clarification. The natural assumption when we hear the 'more energy' comment, is the energy must be in the form of fuel that could be going into our cars if not being used to produce ethanol. As we come up with more forms of energy production we can change that formula. ... like more of the 300 giant windmills currently being erected smack dab in the cornbelt (close to the ethanol plants) maybe?

To: Ish who wrote (2158)	10/2/2006 6:09:14 PM
From: TimF	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10087

Our co-op did a study and 10% ethanol got 2% better mileage. I've seen several tests with ordinary passenger vehicles and they tend to get lower mileage. I think the tests might have been E85, not E10. One factor in gasohol's favor is that the alcohol increases octane which allows for higher compression ratios, which helps efficacy. There are other ways to increase octane and if you compare high octane gasohol against gasoline of the same octane rating in an engine designed for such high octane than the normal premium gas probably gets worse mileage. OTOH if you take regular gas and mix ethanol in to the blend, the increased octane over regular gas might allowed for higher compression ratios and other designs features that can cause you to get more power. I did a quick search to find the tests. I found this libertypost.org But its about E85 not standard gasohol. This pro gasohol (and E85) site says that the difference is negligible with E10, E20 and E30. "In 2005, ACE conducted a study comparing gas mileage between unleaded and E10, E20, and E30. On average, the difference between straight unleaded and E10 was only 1.5% - a negligible amount. Some believe that lower BTU value has a one-to-one impact on fuel economy – this research proves that is not the case. In light of this finding, more research is underway to examine the fuel economy of E85." ethanol.org This page argues for a larger difference but it only gives a few examples. Its anecdotal not a real study. findarticles.com The EPA says 2% reduction "Will using E10 affect the mileage of my car? Testing has shown fuel mileage may decrease by approximately 2%." deldot.gov